Watch-regulator.



No. 627,8I7. Patented June 27, I899.

C. K. COLBY.

WATCH REGULATOR.

(Application filed Sept. 16, 1898.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES: INVENTOR ATTORNEY- m: News Pnkns ca. Pnmouwu. WASHINGTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CALEB K. COLBY, OF YORK, N. Y.

WATCH- REG U LATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 627,817, dated June 27, 1899.

Application filed September 16, 1898. Serial No. 691,061. (No model.)

i To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CALEB K. COLBY, a citi- I zen oftheUnited States,residing atNew York, in the borough of Brooklyn, Kings county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Regulators for Timepieces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the class of regulating devices wherein an indicator is provided to enable the person regulating the watch or other timepiece to know in which direction and to what extent he last moved the regulator-bar; and it is designed for use particularly on that class of watch-regulators wherein no rotary or rack-and-pinion devices are used, although it might be used on that form of regulating device also.

The invention consists, essentially, in two indicators, one at each side of the regulatorbar, these indicators being adapted to move frictionally along keeper-guides toward and from the regulator-bar.

As there are a great many forms of regulators, the drawings illustrate the application of the indicators to two typical forms of regulators now in use in watches.

In the drawings, which are all on an exaggerated scale, Figure l is. a face view of a regulator wherein the bar is moved by a spring and screw and illustrating a simple application of the indicators thereto. Figs. 2 and 3 are fragmentary sectional views illustrating the manner of mounting the indicators in their keeper-groove. Fig. a is a view showing the same arrangement of the indicators as in Fig. 1, but in this view the regulatorbar is designed to be adjusted without the aid of a screw.

1 represents a bridge or cock, common as a plate in a watch-movement. 2 is the regulator-bar, also common, and 3 is a series of graduations traversed by the bar 2 in regulating the watch. These parts are seen in Figs. 1 and a of the drawings. In Fig. 1 a spring t holds the bar 2 up to an operatingscrew 5, as in some forms of watch-regulators. In Fig. 4c the bar 2 must be shifted without the aid of a screw.

6 is a groove extending transversely of the bridge 1 and formed therein. This groove forms a keeper-guide for two indicators 7 7,

mounted frictionally in said groove, one at either side of the regulator-bar 2, but not in any way attached thereto. The groove 6 may be undercut, as shown in the cross-section thereof, Fig. 2, and the indicators be beveled or otherwise formed to fit snugly or frictionally in the groove. Preferably the indicator will have an upturned end in the path of the bar 2 partly to enable the indicator to be seen readily and partly so as to keep the indicators separated by the bar.

The guiding-groove in which the indicators are mounted may obviously be in a plate which forms an essential part of the watchmovement or in a special plate placed under the regulator-bar for this purpose, and the indicators will extend upward from the face of the regulator-bar. Any of the known mechanical means for ad justing the regulatorbar may be employed, if desired.

The manner of using the indicators is as follows: One indicator is used when the bar 2 is moved toward F, or fast, and the other is used when the bar is moved toward S, or slow. At starting to regulate the watch if the operator desires tomove the bar 2 toward S the indicators are both moved up into contact with the regulator-bar and then the baris moved the desired distance toward S, carrying the indicator at that side with it. The effect is to move the bar away from the other indicator, the distance between this latter and the bar being the exact measure of the movement. At the next adjustment the same thing is done, the indicator which is separated from the bar by a space showing always the extent and direction of the movement of the bar at the last adjustment.

The important advantage in the employment of two sliding indicators situated at the respective sides of the regulator-bar and capable of being moved up into contact therewith at starting overa single indicator beyond the end of the said bar resides in the fact that when the bar is moved away from the indicator ever so little the extent of movement can be plainly observed by using the ordinary eyeglass, the light being readily seen through the narrow space.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a Watch-regulating device, the combination with the regulator-bar and a plate beneath said'bar, having formed in it a groove extending transversely of the bar and forming a keeper-guide, of two independently-operating indicators mounted frictionally in said groove on opposite sides of the regulatorbar, said indicators projecting up into the path of the regulator-bar and their bases taking under the said plate along the margins of the groove'or slot therein, substantially as set forth.

2. In a Watch-regulating device, the combination with the regulator bar, a spring adapted to niove said bar in one direction, a screw to move it in the opposite direction, a transversely-grooved plate under said regulator-bar, and two frictionally-mounted indicators in said groove at opposite sides of the bar, said indicators projecting upward from the plate into the path of the regulator-bar my" name this 12th day of September, 1898, in

thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CALEB K. COLBY.

l l'itnesses:

HENRY OQNNETT, PETER A. Boss. 

